Bio
Jose Romussi (b. 1979, Chile) works with materials rooted in textiles. His practice incorporates a variety of techniques - including collage, embroidery, weaving, and patchwork, allowing the materials themselves to guide the formation of unique pictorial and textural compositions. Inspired by memory, daily life, landscapes, and flowers, Romussi explores natural dyeing processes, wool and threads, geometric shapes and organic forms. His work brings together formal and conceptual elements of modernist abstraction while simultaneously challenging traditional textile conventions.
In his latest series, "Taking Memories of a Landscape" (2024)—formerly titled Pasajes, in reference to vague yet deeply present images in his life—Romussi uses mohair and alpaca wool to create woven pictorial landscapes. The natural properties of the wool shape the creative process, resulting in ethereal skies, floral motifs, and environmental imagery. He reflects on how time spent engaging with materials reveals their potential, leading to new and evolving bodies of work.
His hand-embroidered pieces on linen and jute (2020) feature geometric shapes and color gradients, subtly referencing the urban environment and the organic natural world. Here, the work is characterized by a harmonious interplay of shapes and lines, achieved through textiles and various painting mediums, including acrylics on cotton canvas. Crafted with remarkable precision and attention to detail, Romussi’s pieces explore depth and form, occupying a space between illusion and abstraction.
Romussi currently lives and works between Mexico City and Santiago de Chile. Recently, he presented his new series of landscapes in "Stitched: Contemporary Embroidery", a group exhibition at Bedford Gallery, USA (April 2025), and exhibited a series of eight paintings at Salón Acme and Solo Studios, both in Mexico City (February 2025). Notable solo exhibitions include "Days, Weeks, and Months" at Mommsen 35, Berlin (July 2023), "The Embroidery Image" at Robert Mann Gallery, New York, USA (2016), ArtConnect in Berlin, Germany (2015), and "Dance" at Terminal 1 Local Project, Santiago, Chile (2011). Romussi previously worked as a landscape architect, with a degree in Landscape Architecture from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
CV
Upcoming Projects
2025
• Private residence including 15 commissioned paintings in Puerto Escondido.
• Artist residence at Proyecto H & Galería Marchante, November 2025 – January 2026 (Solo exhibition at Salón ACME), Mexico.
• Artist residence at Studio Lazcano, August - October 2025 (Presenting work for Modernism Mexico), Mexico.
Selected Exhibitions
2025
• “S.O.D.A.”Soda Studio, February–March 2025, Mexico City, Mexico (Group exhibition).
2023
• Days, Weeks and Months, July 30–September 28 2023, Mommsen 35, Berlin, Germany (Solo exhibition).
• Group show, Mommsen 35, December 2022–January 2023, Berlin, Germany (Group exhibition).
2019
• Stitched: Part II, 2019, Paradigm Gallery, Philadelphia, USA (Group exhibition).
• Photographs from the Susanne von Meiss Collection, 2019, C/O Berlin, Germany (Group exhibition).
• Manipulation, analogueNOW! 2019, Festival, Berlin, Germany (Group exhibition).
2018
• The Future is Now, 2018, International Youth Design, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Beijing, China (Group exhibition).
2016
• The Embroidery Image, 2016, Robert Mann Gallery, New York, USA (Solo exhibition).
• The Age of Collage, 2016, Gestalten Space, Berlin, Germany (Solo exhibition).
• Out of Darkness Comes to Light, 2016, Chicago, USA (Solo exhibition).
• Acidmirage, 2016, Gang of Berlin, Berlin, Germany (Solo exhibition).
• Patchbox Project, 2016, Rome, Italy (Group exhibition).
2013
• ArtConnect Berlin, 2013, Berlin, Germany (Solo exhibition).
2012
• Dance, 2012, Terminal 1 Local Project, Santiago, Chile (Solo exhibition).
2011
• The Mind Knows What the Eyes Have Not Seen, 2011, Espacio Opening, Santiago, Chile (Solo exhibition).
Residencies
2024 – Artist residence at Laberinthos Studios, Berlin, Germany.
2023 – Artist residence at Lagos, Arte Lagos, CDMX, Mexico.
2018 – Artist residence at Walk & Talk, Azores, Portugal.
Art Fairs
2025 – Salón ACME, Mexico City, Mexico.
2018 – Berliner Liste, Berlin, Germany.
2014 – The London Contemporary Art Fair, London, UK.
2013 – Strarta Art Fair, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK.
2013 – Pinta London, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London, UK.
2013 – Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, UK.
2012 – SCOPE Art Show, Miami, USA.
2012 – Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead, London, UK.
Publications
2024 – Broderie Book, Audrey de Marre, Editions La Martinière, Paris, France.
2018 – De Fil en Aiguille: Embroidery in Contemporary Art, Charlotte Vannier, Pyramyd Editions, Paris, France.
2015 – Needle Work: Stitched Illustration, Monsa Editorial, Barcelona, Spain.
2014 – Contemporary Artist: Hunt and Gather, Cut and Paste, Mash Up and Transform, Danielle Krysa, USA.
2014 – Contemporary Portraits, Index Books, Spain.
2013 – The Age of Collage, Gestalten, Germany.
Awards
2013 – Winner, International Competition Nach der Arbeit, NGBK Gallery, Berlin, Germany.
Education
2000–2004 – Landscape Architecture, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.